Based on the text of "Macbeth" can you answer the following question from the text

Question

Why is Macbeth accepting some prophecies and rejecting others with in the text

Why is he making "double sure" about some prophecies? To what extent does he believe in the prophecies now? Support your answer with quotes from the play.

Answer 1

One of Shakespeare's late, great tragedies, Macbeth offers us many examples of mirror images, deception, and paradoxes to make us ponder right and wrong, good and evil, and a world gone topsy-turvy, thus creating images of doubles.

For example, the witches state that "when fair is foul and foul is fair," thus prompting us to consider what happens when order is turned upside down, as in when a thane, or lord, slays a monarch simply for power and greed. The play also imparts images of deception, as when Macbeth and his wife deceive Duncan in order to gain control over him -- and ultimately murder him. Compare King Duncan's goodness, for example, with Macbeth's evil, which serves as a mirror image of sorts.

Deception, gender inversion (think Lady Macbeth and her "unsex me now" line), and mirror images are important themes and symbols throughout the play. Macbeth being "double sure" about some prophecies and rejecting others serves to buttress the themes of doubles and mirror images in this outstanding play.